Dune: Part Two – sand, spice, and everything nice (Stephen Hunt’s film review)
Due to its layered complexity, intricate themes, and extensive world-building, the Frank Herbert novel series Dune has consistently been considered a formidable challenge for any film or television adaptation. Herbert’s narrative is a dense tapestry interwoven with philosophical musings, political intrigue, ecological concerns, and deep dives into human psychology. Such richness makes it difficult to distill into the more confined formats of film or television without losing substantial depth.
The universe Herbert created is vast, detailing numerous planets, cultures, languages, and complex social orders. Capturing the essence of this expansive universe within the limited timeframe of a movie or series is a daunting endeavor. Moreover, much of Dune‘s storytelling is delivered through characters’ thoughts and inner monologues—a style that presents unique challenges to visual storytelling, which leans heavily on external action and dialogue.
David Lynch’s 1984 film adaptation of Dune serves as a prime example of these challenges. Despite Lynch’s visionary direction, the film struggled to compress the novel’s broad story into a coherent narrative, receiving mixed reviews. Critics pointed out that while the movie was visually compelling, it often failed to capture the novel’s nuanced depth, primarily due to the runtime constraints and the cinematic conventions of the era.
The Sci-Fi Channel’s mini-series from the early 2000s, including Frank Herbert’s Dune and its sequel, Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune, took a different tack by spreading the story across several episodes. This format allowed for a more thorough exploration of the Dune universe, its complex plot, and its intricate themes. Generally better received than Lynch’s film, these adaptations were praised for their fidelity to the source material and their capacity to delve into the narrative’s complexities, though they sometimes fell short of fully realizing Herbert’s grand vision due to budgetary and special effects limitations.
In more recent years, Denis Villeneuve’s adaptations, starting with Dune (2021) and its sequels, strive to surmount these historical hurdles by utilizing modern filmmaking technologies, including state-of-the-art CGI, to vividly bring to life the Dune universe in ways previously unattainable. These adaptations address a significant difficulty that earlier adaptations faced by dividing the narrative into multiple films, giving the story—and its characters—the space to develop more naturally. Furthermore, Villeneuve’s approach benefits from a contemporary audience that is now more accustomed to intricate narratives across various media, from television series to video games.
While previous attempts at adapting Dune underscore the difficulties of translating Herbert’s complex and dense universe onto the screen, they have also laid the groundwork for novel approaches. Each adaptation, through its successes and failures, has contributed to a deeper understanding of how best to navigate the challenges of bringing this “unfilmable” narrative to visual media, leading to a progressive refinement in the portrayal of Herbert’s vision.
Dune: Part Two continues the epic saga of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), picking up from the dire circumstances that concluded the first film. After the brutal betrayal and assault on House Atreides by the combined forces of House Harkonnen and the Emperor’s Sardaukar, Paul and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), find themselves seeking refuge with the Fremen, the indigenous inhabitants of the desert planet Arrakis.
Arrakis, also known as Dune, is the only source of the universe’s most valuable substance, the spice melange, which enables interstellar travel, extends life, and enhances mental abilities. The Fremen have long harbored dreams of liberation from the oppressive rule of off-world powers, and their prophecies suggest that a messiah, whom they call Muad’Dib, will lead them to freedom.
As Paul and Jessica integrate into Fremen society, Paul’s visions, enhanced by exposure to the spice, grow increasingly powerful and complex. He is haunted by forebodings of a dark future and wrestles with his destiny as the potential fulfillment of Fremen prophecy. Paul’s love for Chani (Zendaya), a young Fremen warrior who has been a recurring figure in his prophetic dreams, strengthens his resolve in the face of these difficulties.
The film expands the narrative to include the political machinations of the universe, introducing new characters such as Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), the Emperor’s daughter; Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler), the Baron’s nephew and heir; and the Emperor himself, Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken), who views the developments on Arrakis with growing concern.
Paul’s journey is both internal and external, as he seeks to unify the Fremen and lead a revolt against the Harkonnens and the Emperor, aiming to seize control of Arrakis and its spice production. This quest is fraught with peril, including battles against the Harkonnen forces and the challenge of navigating the complex social and political landscape of the Fremen and the wider universe.
Dune: Part Two delves deeper into the themes of destiny, power, and the consequences of colonial exploitation, set against the backdrop of a richly detailed and visually stunning sci-fi universe. The film builds towards a climactic confrontation that sets the stage for future developments, exploring the costs of Paul’s ascent to power and the unfolding of his vision for the future of Arrakis and the galaxy at large.
From the outset, Villeneuve’s ambition to outdo the already impressive visuals of the first installment is clear. The sweeping landscapes of Arrakis are rendered with such detail and depth that they feel almost tactile, from the granular texture of the sand to the harsh glare of the sun. This level of detail extends to the colossal sandworms, which are brought to life with awe-inspiring realism. Their movements ripple through the dunes, combining a sense of majestic grace with an underlying threat, making them not just creatures but embodiments of the planet’s raw power. But it’s not just the natural elements that captivate; the technological wonders of the Dune universe are equally mesmerizing. Spaceships and ornithopters are designed with a keen eye for both functionality and aesthetics, blending futuristic technology with the series’ unique stylistic elements. The way these machines cut through the skies of alien worlds or hover ominously above the ground showcases a blend of CGI and practical effects that feels both innovative and timeless.
The film’s battle scenes are a spectacle of choreography and visual effects, where every laser blast, explosion, and sword fight is enhanced by the SFX to create sequences that are not only visually stunning but also emotionally charged. The attention to detail in the costumes and the architecture adds layers of cultural depth and historical weight to each frame, further enriching the visual storytelling.
Perhaps most strikingly, Dune: Part Two excels in its use of color and lighting to evoke mood and emotion. The contrast between the fiery hues of Arrakis’ days and the cool blues of its nights adds a dramatic tension to the visuals, while the use of shadow and light plays into the film’s themes of prophecy, vision, and destiny. My only criticism is that it looks like they blew a lot of the budget on the massive brutalist structures of Arrakis, and the Imperial Palace scenes weren’t quite on the same eye-candy scale. Giedi Prime, though: hell yes! Those scenes were on a fabulous scale. Plus, in the final battle, where were my deadly throat-singing space vikings from the last film? I was looking forward to some serious deep-humming Sardaukar action, although, instead, I did get some Apocalypse Now feels, as if the 7th Air Cav had been deployed with ornithopters.
And what were my other personal thoughts and final reflections on the film, having been treated to the movie early at the London press screening last night? Well, this movie certainly picks up the sandy saga where its predecessor left off, with our brooding hero Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mom, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), doing the interstellar equivalent of couch surfing with Arrakis’s locals, the Fremen. And yes, Zendaya’s Chani is back, giving us all a masterclass in how to look effortlessly cool in what is essentially a galaxy-sized desert.
This time around, Villeneuve has apparently decided that everything needs to be turned up to eleven. Soldiers don’t just fight; they pirouette through the air in slow motion before meeting their dramatic demise. Worms don’t just slither; they part the sands like aquatic behemoths in a sea of dunes. And the plot? Well, it thickens, simmers, and occasionally boils over with a concoction of revenge, prophecy, and a sprinkle of teenage angst, courtesy of our leading man, Paul.
The returning ensemble cast, now joined by the likes of Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, and Christopher Walken, navigates the increasingly complex web of interstellar politics, psychic mutantrie (yes, that’s a new word: I just made it up), and environmental metaphors with the grace of a ballet dancer wearing Expanse-issue starship boots. Butler, in particular, seems to have embraced his role as a Harkonnen heartthrob with a penchant for villainy, delivering a performance that’s part rock star, part sadistic nephew, and entirely captivating.
But let’s not kid ourselves. While Dune: Part Two aims for the stars, it occasionally gets lost in its own sandstorm. For every breathtaking vista and pulse-pounding skirmish, there’s a moment of Paul gazing wistfully into the middle distance, probably pondering the complexities of intergalactic geopolitics or maybe just trying to remember where he parked his sandworm.
And then there’s the romance between Paul and Chani. If you were hoping for a love story that would make your heart soar like a spice-laden freighter, you might want to temper those expectations. Their relationship, some fine Paul-slapping by Chani aside, has all the chemistry of a high school science project—interesting in theory but lacking the necessary reactions.
Despite its occasional wanderings into the melodramatic dunes, Dune: Part Two manages to be both grandiose and introspective, often in the same breath. It’s a film that dares to dream big, even when it stumbles over its own ambitions. And for those of us who revel in the sheer audacity of bringing Frank Herbert’s dense tome to life, that’s part of its charm. Let’s just say that Dune: Part Two is less a movie and more a cosmic event—a film that demands to be experienced, debated, and puzzled over. Until someone films the Sliding Void series of books, this will remain the definitive space opera film of our time. And one thing is certain: this is one of the most epic journeys ever; however, you should definitely bring your stillsuit.
